Westfield High/Massacre

In 1994, at Westfield High school, Tate Langdon murdered 15 people with a shotgun.[1] He also permanently handicapped the school librarian, Mr. Carmichael. In Tate's fantasies about the school shooting he wears a black hoodie, a Prussian blue American Civil War Union soldier coat and grim reaper make up. His hair is slicked back. In reality, he did wear the American Civil War Union soldier coat, but also a Black T-shirt and had his hair like he normally does. After the massacre, the "Wolverines Memorial Trust" was started in memory of the students.

Victims

During Tate's sessions of describing his shooting fantasy, he is unaware that these events are from his memory. He states that he targets people he likes.[2]

A memorial plaque with all 15 students' names is seen in the library.[3]

In Memory of Our Fallen Brothers and Sisters

Stephanie Boggs

Kelsey Jackson

Michael Rivera

Jay Cannavo

Danielle Levesque

Josh Sathre

Mark Finstein

Luke Maxcy

Chloe Stapleton

Kevin Gedman

Andrew Meyers

Amir Stanley

Kyle Greenwell

Jason Mueller

Jennifer Wright

Dead Breakfast Club

Five of the fifteen victims pursue Tate and Violet on Halloween Night, 2011[4]. It was unclear as to whether they were dressed as zombies or were actually ghosts at first, since they could be wearing elaborate costumes and make up for Halloween. Violet, unaware of the massacre, did not pick up on the significance. She referred to them as the "Dead Breakfast Club"[5].

Kyle Greenwell

Kyle was a football player for the Westfield Wolverines. He claims to have never met, or did not remember meeting, Tate. He had received a football scholarship for Georgia Tech, as was mentioned by both him and the "Victims of Westfield High Massacre Website". Kyle was with Chloe in the library when they heard the gunshots. He was shot directly above his eyes, and was the fourth to die in the library.

Amir Stanley

Amir, by appearances, seems to have been a nerdy student. He was on the computers in the library during the initial gunshots. He was the third person killed in the library. While on the phone trying to call for help, Tate shot him in the mouth/jaw. Amir's ghost cannot speak because of this injury. Kevin tells Tate that Amir could have accomplished great things with his life if he had lived. The "Victims of Westfield High Massacre Website" states that he was the Editor of the 1993 Westfield High Yearbook.

Chloe Stapleton

Chloe was a cheerleader for the Westfield High Wolverines. After her murder, due to being an only child, her parents divorced and moved away from Los Angeles. She was in the library, studying with Kyle when she heard the first gunshot. She was the last to be shot by Tate, tearfully begging him to not kill her as she urinated due to the horror. She was shot directly in the heart. When she runs into Tate on the beach, she says that if she were still alive, she would be 34. The "Victims of the Westfield High Massacre'" website states that she was on the Varsity Squad.

Stephanie Boggs

Stephanie claims that during the shooting Tate asked her whether or not she believed in God. Stephanie admits to Tate on the beach that she was actually agnostic or atheist, and had lied in the moment and said "Yes." During the flashback of the shooting, this event appears to have not actually occurred. Tate appears to not speak to anyone before killing them. Stephanie was the first to be killed in the library. She was shown hiding amongst the bookshelves and when Tate pushes books off the shelf, she screams and reveals her location. Tate shot her in the head, exposing her skull and brains.

The Columbine High School Massacre victim, Cassie Bernall was believed to have been asked the same question and answered yes before also being shot in the head. In reality, the student who had been asked about her belief was Valeen Schnurr, who had been shot before being questioned about the existence of God. She was injured, but survived. Therefore the discrepancy between what Stephanie claims to have taken place and what actually happened could be another Columbine reference.

Kevin Gedman

Kevin is dressed as a punk rocker and is wearing a black leather jacket. He admits to Tate that while he probably would not have accomplished too much in life, some of the other people he killed would have made a difference. During the flashback of the shooting, Kevin runs into the library after the initial gunshots covered in blood. He says it's not his blood, but the blood of another student who was shot near him. Kevin is the second one of the group to be killed by Tate, discovered soon after Stephanie is shot.

Notes

Many of the victims listed on the memorial plaque are, as an in-joke, crew members: Jay Cannavo is the AHS production assistant, Luke Maxcy is the Director's Guild of America Trainee working on AHS, Josh Sathre is production secretary for AHS, Mark Finstein is a set decorator, etc.

Reference to "The Breakfast Club" (1985): In 'Halloween 2', Violet says that the bunch that scares her at the beach (library victims) is "the dead breakfast club".

There is a film called "The Evil Dead Breakfast Club" released in 2010.

In his school shooting fantasies, Tate's makeup looks similar to the intricate body tattoos of real life model Rick Genest, aka Rico the Zombie.

The story is similar to the tragic event that occurred at Columbine High School. The event took place between 11:19 am and 12:08 pm. A picture from one Tate's flashbacks/fantasies shows Tate to be handling a shotgun at 11:30 am.

When Violet is looking up information on the massacre, several news internet articles refer to "criminals". Could this mean there was more than one killer?[6] The search results are based on actual search results on Columbine, which is why they cite the "Trenchcoat Mafia", refer to suicides by the perpetrators although Tate did not kill himself and to "suburban Los Angeles" and "unincorporated" (Columbine is both unincorporated and suburban). Another possibility is therefore that the mentioning of "killers" and "criminals" is merely another reference to Columbine. The first article visible in the snapshot is based on the Wikipedia article on the Columbine High School massacre: "occurred on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, an unincorporated area of Jefferson County, Colorado". The second search result visible refers to a USA Today article to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Columbine massacre, "They weren't goths or loners" [7]. The line of the third article, "wasn't about jocks, goths or Trenchcoat Mafia" is taken from NY Times writer Dave Cullen's book "Columbine" [8].

The book on top of the table that Chloe and Kyle hide under was Harlan Beckley’s Passion For Justice: Retrieving The Legacies of Walter Rauschenbusch, John A. Ryan and Reinhold Niebuhr (1992), an examination of three extremely influential Christian theologians and their relevance to ethics, social policy, and responding to injustice. Niebuhr raised the issue of "the perfect disinterestedness" of God and the question "How can the God of love also be the God of justice?"

Theorized References

Westfield High is likely a reference to the Virginia Tech shootings. Seung-Hui Cho, who committed the worst single shooter massacre in US history, killing 33 and injuring 25, was an alumni of "Westfield High" in Virginia. "Westfield High" was at the center of a heroin dealing ring among ex-students as well.

Evan Peters (Tate Langdon on "American Horror Story") played the love interest of Ashley Rickards (cheerleader Chloe Stapleton on "American Horror Story") on the show "One Tree Hill". Peters played "John Jack Daniels", while Rickards played "Sam Walker". This could possibly make Tate's line to her, "I don't know you," an in-joke.

After the Columbine Massacre, it was initially reported that Cassie Bernall had been asked by either Dylan Klebold or Eric Harris whether she believed in God and that she was shot when she replied "Yes, I believe." Bernall was hiding under a table in the library when she was killed, much like Chloe Stapleton in "American Horror Story". In reality, the student who had been asked about her belief and then shot was Valeen Schnurr.[9] She was injured, but survived. This confusion is similar to the fact that Tate supposedly asked Stephanie Boggs about her faith before killing her, when he actually never spoke.